TOI rehashes 'A day in the life of India' after eight years

BCCL has planned an innovative marketing strategy to promote this campaign.

Bennett Coleman & Co. Limited (BCCL) has launched a campaign on February 01, inviting readers to capture 'A day in the life of India' in their own style. As per the campaign, the readers can shoot photos, make their own videos, draw cartoons, or share jokes about whatever they think makes India what it is.

While the Videos category invites entries from amateurs, professionals or students, the Photos and the Cartoons category accepts entries from amateurs or professionals only. For the Jokes and Anecdotes category, any applicant is eligible.

Rahul Kansal, chief marketing officer, BCCL, says, "As a newspaper, we talk about scams, politics and movies - the idiosyncrasies that are a part of newspapers. The idea behind this campaign was to be what we are - the pulse of India - and present various moods of it in a fun manner."

The last year being a grim one, with all kinds of scams happening in the country, the group decided to lighten the mood of India through this satirical campaign.

The campaign has been created by the group's creative agency, TapRoot India.

'A day in the life of India' was originally launched in 1999 and ran for a few years before coming to a halt in 2003. At that time, the campaign was restricted to films made by professionals, but this time, after a gap of about eight years, the campaign is being extended to the general public as well.

One can choose any of these themes, which are divided on a weekly basis: Week 1: Santa Banta; Week 2: Rajni/Ghajini, Week 3: 2G/CWG Scams; Week 4: Malayali or Bengali; Week 5: Ajit/Mithun, and Week 6: Politicians. The contestants can also present their own takes on India.

To promote this campaign, the BCCL group has created a dedicated website, www.day.in, where one can upload the photographs, videos, jokes and anecdotes. Apart from this, it is also running banner ads on its network sites.

The group is launching a range of merchandise around 'A day in the life of India', including T-shirts and mugs, among other things. Radio spots taken on Radio Mirchi are running the theme song of the campaign, created by Swanand Kirkire and Shantanu Moitra. The song, Ajab Tamaasha Re, has drawn inspiration from the street sounds of India. There is also a film in the offing along the same lines.

BCCL has taken more than 200 hoardings across the country to promote the campaign.

The winning entries will get cash prizes of up to Rs 5 lakh and merchandise. Apart from this, some of the best entries will be showcased in The Times of India, Times Now, Zoom and Radio Mirchi.

The contest will be on till March 15. The entries are divided into four categories - Videos, Photographs, Cartoons and Jokes and Anecdotes. Agnello Dias and Raju Hirani will judge the Video entries. Raghu Rai, chief photographer, The Times of India, will judge the Photos section, Jokes and Anecdotes will be judged by Vir Das, and Cartoons by Ajit Ninan, Neelabh and Salam. The judges' panel will scrutinise the entries based on the popularity of each entry.